Reporter & camera man shot to death on live TV; suspect shoots himself

By Lois D. Medrano | Aug 27, 2015 | 07:41 AM EDT

A seemingly normal morning live broadcast of an interview by the Virginia station WDBJ7-TV has ultimately ended to a tragedy as two of the station's youngest employees have been gunned down to death while the camera continues to roll.

USA Today reports that the incident, which happened Wednesday morning at 6:45, has costed 24-year-old journalist Alison Parker and 27-year-old cameraman Adam Ward their lives. The suspect of the shooting happens to be a former employee of the station, Bryce Williams, whose real name is Vester Flanagan. After he has shot the two, the gunman fled and shot himself as well.

Jeffrey Marks, general manager of WDBJ7-TV, saidFlanagan is a previous employee who had displayed since of anger before he was fired last 2013. This is imminent when the gunman even posted the sickening video on his Facebook page, which has been taken down due to its graphic content. However, as it has been done on live TV, Adam's camera is still rolling when the incident happened.

Chicago Tribune writes that Flanagan has planned everything, showing the killing for all horrified viewers to see. In his own recording, Flanagan is seen walking towards the victims with a gun on hand. He pointed it at Parker, then at Ward but has deliberately waited for Parker to be on air before she has been gunned down. The first eight gun shots has been heard when Parker screamed and ran, shouting, "Oh my God!" as she fell down. That is the time when Ward has fallen too.

The two have been announced dead on the spot and miraculously, their interviewee, Vicki Gardner, head of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce, has survived. According to Flanagan's Twitter, he has had conflict with Parker and Ward back when they have been working together.

ABC News Australia adds that Flanagan has fled the scene in a rental car but has shot himself when the Virginia state police found his car off the road, which appeared to have crashed. Flanagan has died in the nearby hospital where the police have taken him.

Parker and Ward are said to be romantically involved with WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst and producer Melissa Ott, respectively. Parker has just recently moved in with Hurst and the two have been planning to get married, while Ward has already proposed to Ott and engaged to be wed.

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